0 Little Boys and High Energy

One of the houses has a swing set. The weather has been nice, unseasonably warm. In fact tomorrow, we are due thunderstorms. Quite a change from the snow we began the week with. In any case, I gave up on getting anything accomplished with William around. He was filled with energy, so we went outside, and ended up at the other house, where Tim was working on the roof.

William had a grand time. He put up quite a fuss until he was allowed to climb the ladder and watch Grampa work. He's fearless, and scaled that ladder to roof level. I was behind him, of course, holding on. Once he was at the top of the ladder, he threw quite a tantrum because he was not permitted off the ladder and onto the roof proper.

I hauled a kicking screaming boy back down the ladder, and it was not fun.

I distracted him by taking him for a walk to the creek. He had his monkey boots on and was permitted to wade and throw stones, which is his favorite thing in the world. He threw quite a tantrum when he was not permitted to wade out into water past his knees, his boots reaching only midcalf.

We climbed rocks for a while, and he loved that. He lost his footing at one point and slid feet first down the bank of the creek towards the water. Afraid that he'd get cold water in his boots, I picked him up, which set him off once again. He enjoyed the sliding and meant to do it again.

Weary of his outraged bellowing, I told Tim that we were going to head home. I figured that our little beasty boy was ready for a nap.

He howled lustily while being buckled in his car seat, begging to climb the ladder to see his grandpa. Tim laughed from the roof and reminded me to pick up his truck which he'd left over by the swing set.

Driving home, William fussed in the back seat. Much to my surprise, that fussing turned to full blown frantic screaming, so desperate that I had to pull off the road. He had dirty hands, and he'd been rubbing his teary eyes, so my thoughts were that he'd gotten dirt in his eyes. I asked him if his eyes hurt and he wailed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! There's a caterpillar on my truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And he screamed again for good measure. I took his truck and looked. A tiny piece of hemlock clung to the side of it. I told him it wasn't a caterpillar, and he insisted once again it was.

Once home, he threw a couple more fits, refusing to lie down unless I let him wear his dinosaur pajamas which he'd spied fresh from the dryer. Usually he takes his nap in his clothes, but not today. I gave in, popped him in his dinosaur pajamas. Without one more complaint, he put himself to bed and was instantly asleep.

They are so stinking cute when they are asleep, but it also made me shiver a little. I knew he was simply recharging his batteries.